One year ago this week, the PHX Sky Train opened to the public. The predictions for the driverless train system at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport were as high as the gusts of wind that accompanied its inaugural ride from Terminal 4 to the East Economy Parking Lot to the Metro light-rail station at 44th and Washington streets.

The $1.58 billion automated, interterminal train system was touted as something that would launch not only the airport, but the greater Phoenix area, into the modern era. With its connection to the light-rail system, it was supposed to dramatically ease congestion on Sky Harbor's busiest days.

One year later, has Sky Train lived up to those lofty expectations?

Airport and city officials say it has, citing passenger-ride counts that have exceeded initial projections by nearly 30 percent. Before the system opened, officials based Sky Train's budget estimates using a projected 7,000 riders per day. Since it opened, Sky Train has averaged just less than 10,000 riders per day.

"At very first, when those numbers came in, I just assumed it was people who had no business here at the airport. They just wanted to ride the train (because) it was free, kind of fun," Mayor Greg Stanton said. "But in actuality, we have found that it has been massively popular, massively successful. People have figured out fairly quickly that it is a much more convenient way to get in and out of Sky Harbor Airport."

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton directs the PHX Sky Train on its first departure from the new station at Terminal 3 of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Monday, April 7, 2014. The train is completing its first year of operation with ridership far exceeding initial projections. Charlie Leight/The Republic

Rural Electric's Erick Parra does work on the new walkway connecting terminals 2 and 3 below the new Phx Sky Train station at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Monday, April 7, 2014. Charlie Leight/The Republic

A member of the media grabs a vest and hard hat before taking a quick tour of the new PHX Sky Train station at Terminal 3 of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Monday, April 7, 2014. Charlie Leight/The Republic

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton gives the media and airport officials a quick tour of the new PHX Sky Train station at Terminal 3 of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Monday, April 7, 2014. Charlie Leight/The Republic

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton gives the media and airport officials a quick tour of the new PHX Sky Train station at Terminal 3 of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on Monday, April 7, 2014. Charlie Leight/The Republic

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton celebrates after breaking a Sky Train banner in Terminal 4 at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on April 8, 2013, on the first day of use for the automated train. The Republic

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Critics of the system continue to argue that Sky Train carries too few passengers for too short a distance to be cost-effective. The first phase of the project cost $644 million, and the second will cost $240 million. And even with Sky Train, airport congestion continued through the Valley's busy winter and spring months, seemingly spiking in March with the coinciding of college spring breaks and Cactus League spring-training tourism.

Stanton said that Sky Train is an important investment for the airport, which is a major driver of the Valley's economic growth. He also emphasized that Sky Train is paid for entirely with airport revenues and passenger fees, not with local tax dollars.

Sky Harbor officials said they are continually trying to get word out that passengers can ride light rail to — or be dropped off at — the Sky Train station at 44th and Washington, in hopes of clearing curbside traffic at the airport. The station offers early bag-check services, a cellphone lot, metered parking and even a dog park.

"We want this to be the busiest airport possible — the busier it is, the better it is for our local economy," Stanton said. "But within that context, we want people to utilize the assets that we have here to make the experience as efficient as possible. ... We do want people to learn more about that hidden secret of that 44th Street station, take better advantage of it."

In addition, the completion of the next phase of Sky Train will mean taking eight to 10 more circulating airport buses off the interterminal roads, which should further ease traffic, according to Assistant Aviation Director Chad Makovsky.

On April 7, the Sky Train's 365th day of operation, Stanton and airport officials led a group through Terminal 3 to peek at the next phase of the project, which will connect Sky Train to Terminal 3, with a walkway to Terminal 2.

The tour kicked off an extensive testing period for the next stage of the project, expected to last nine months. Officials aim to have the next phase of Sky Train complete by early 2015, in time for Super Bowl XLIX, to be in the Valley. Currently, trains usually run with two train cars. Once the Terminal 3 station is open, there likely will be an extra train car added to expand the system's capacity to carry 3,000 people per hour.

A station at Terminal 3 is the next destination in the development of PHX Sky Train at Sky Harbor International Airport.(Photo: Charlie Leight/The Republic)

A final stage of the project will continue Sky Train an additional 2½ miles to the airport's rental-car center. The schedule for that phase has not been set.

PHX Sky Train passenger counts

Since PHX Sky Train opened on April 8, 2013, the system has averaged just less than 10,000 passengers per day. Here are monthly ridership counts starting from its first full month in operation.